Carl Sagan's Welcome to Mars

[Dave Monroe]

Shortly before his death in 1996, astronomer and science broadcaster
Carl Sagan recorded a message for future Mars explorers:

"Maybe we’re on Mars because of the magnificent science that can be
done there — the gates of the wonder world are opening in our time.
Maybe we’re on Mars because we have to be, because there’s a deep
nomadic impulse built into us by the evolutionary process — we come,
after all, from hunter-gatherers, and for 99.9% of our tenure on Earth
we’ve been wanderers. And the next place to wander to is Mars. But
whatever the reason you’re on Mars is, I’m glad you’re there. And I
wish I was with you."

http://www.sciencefriday.com/blogs/08/08/2012/carl-sagan-s-welcome-to-mars.html